WASHINGTON, D.C., February 16, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled the confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch for Monday, March 20, Sen. Chuck Grassley announced today.
Grassley expects the hearing to last three to four days, with opening statements by Gorsuch, a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals judge, and fellow Judiciary Committee senators on the first day.
Questioning of Gorsuch will begin Tuesday, March 21, with testimony by outside legal experts and the American Bar Association to follow, according to a release by the influential Iowa senator.
“Judge Gorsuch has met every demand placed on him by the Minority. He’s a mainstream judge. He’s displayed independence. He’s met with dozens of senators who have nothing but positive things to say. He is well-qualified and respected,” Grassley said. “He worked diligently to return the bipartisan questionnaire. It’s time for him to have the opportunity to speak for himself before the Judiciary Committee.”
Grassley said the hearing date “follows a similar timeline put together for Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan by former chairman Patrick Leahy. Sotomayor’s hearing was held 48 days after her nomination was announced. Kagan’s hearing was help 49 days after her nomination was announced.”
Thus, he said Gorsuch’s hearing will begin 48 days after the announcement of his nomination.
Social leftist groups have assailed Gorsuch. Pro-life and pro-family groups have applauded the nomination.
The pro-abortion group NARAL Pro-Choice America (formerly National Abortion Rights Action League) blasted Gorsuch as a “direct threat to Roe v. Wade.”
“NARAL and our 1.2 million member-activists call on the Senate to reject Trump's nominee using any means, including the filibuster,” NARAL said in a Jan. 31 release.
On the pro-life side, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, said, ““President Trump has made an exceptional choice in nominating Neil Gorsuch to carry on the legacy of the late Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.”
Dannenfelser and SBA List are the lead organizers of the “Pro-Life Court Coalition,” made up of more than a dozen state and national pro-life groups that are urging Senate Democrats in key battleground states not to oppose Gorsuch.
“There will be political consequences for pro-abortion Senate Democrats who ignore the will of the American people and obstruct this nominee,” said Dannenfelser, speaking Feb. 1 on behalf of the Coalition.
The homosexual-bisexual-transgender activist lobby Human Rights Campaign, which endorsed Hillary Clinton and worked on her presidential bid, issued a report on Gorsuch's record, claiming he is “wrong for the LGBTQ community and wrong for the Supreme Court.”
Meanwhile, the socially conservative Family Research Council is championing Judge Gorsuch, tweeting, “Gorsuch’s record, especially on religious liberty, gives Americans every reason to believe he will make a fine #SCOTUS justice.”